High attrition and low adherence rates continue to hinder the efficacy of digital addiction treatment programs.When individuals prematurely drop out of treatment programs, they are unable to realize the numerousbenefits associated with completing an addiction treatment program, such as fewer relapses and higher levelsof employment. Workit Health is developing a fully integrated chatbot to increase engagement in digitaladdiction treatment programs. The chatbot will be able to make customized, actionable recommendations toprovide care administration and psychosocial support. The integration of this chatbot will also provide theopportunity for individuals to track their progress, identifying behavioral patterns, and incrementalimprovements. While other mental health chatbot technologies have been applied more broadly, offeringsupport for individuals with anxiety and depression, our chatbot will be the first to specifically cater toindividuals struggling with addiction. Moreover, our chatbot will be the first of its kind to be fully integrated intoan addiction treatment program, adopting a hybrid human-first approach. Where other chatbots seek to replacecertain roles of mental health providers, our chatbot seeks to identify areas that chatbots can support andaugment mental health professionals. We expect this nuanced difference to lead to new insights into howmedical providers can collaborate with a chatbot and new ways to utilize the technology. The long term goal ofthe project is to identify novel ways to engage members in online addiction treatment programs to increaseretention. This project will explore how chatbots can be used to offer personalized and scalable interactionswith individuals in addiction treatment programs. In Phase I, we seek to understand how we can engagemembers to utilize the chatbot. In Phase II, we will focus on identifying the best scenarios for a chatbot torespond to and how to persuade members to act on recommended items (such as scheduling an appointmentwith a counselor or attending a group therapy session). As leading health plans adopt value-based caremodels, it is imperative that addiction treatment providers can effectively communicate their impact throughstandard metrics such as retention, adherence, and appointment attendance. As member engagementincreases, we expect to see improvements in these standard outcome metrics, allowing members to maximizethe benefits that they receive from their addiction treatment program. This project will offer insights into bestpractices for other treatment providers looking to integrate a chatbot into mental health treatment programs.
Public Health Relevance Statement: Project Narrative
In this SBIR, Workit Health plans to develop a fully integrated chatbot for digital addiction treatment programs
to increase member engagement. This project is expected to improve addiction treatment outcomes, for
individuals with substance use disorder. The data from this chatbot will provide additional insights into the
behavioral patterns of individuals struggling with addiction.
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